LINGE RIVER

After leaving Utrecht we came out onto the Amsterdam Rhine Canal for the second time in 5 days and again there wasn’t a barge in sight. Pity it hadn’t been the same when we came out of the Maarsen exit. We cruised down to the Linge, a small river just north of Gorinchem. The Linge is navigable for 65 k and we would spend a few days here. We pulled into the small town of Heukelem which has a good mooring alongside a park opposite the town steps.

The town steps are crowded with kids swimming, the adults mostly pay the ferry fare and swim on the side we were on. It is bring your own ladder when you swim here and the people came prepared.

Late in the afternoon we had a huge thunderstorm which lasted for 3 hours with thunder lightning and hail. Kevin sat out in the cool until the hailstones came.


The next day we had another lazy day under the trees, it is quite hot and everybody is swimming, I put a plastic bag on my foot and Kevin got river water to soak my feet.

In the evening we were invited to watch the Soccer Grand Final at the local Community Club. They had a magic water slide to keep the kids entertained and some said it would be good after the soccer for skinnydipping.
We had drinks and nibbles surrounded by another sea of orange.

We were welcomed and given reserved seats up front.

Alas it was now time to put the orange away Netherlands Oranje were beaten by Spain and Kevin was disappointed not to see the water nymphs skinnydipping.

Next day we caught the local bus into Goringchem to the hospital to get my ankle strapped. . I handed the letter from Utrecht Hospital and it was arranged straightaway for me to go to the treatment centre. Here the nurse spoke english and as it was hot she strapped my foot with some new type of bandaging so I could get it wet and in 90 minutes it would dry. It looks a little like lightweight fibreglass.

It is a lovely cruise along the Linge . There 2 larger towns of Leerdam a Geldermalsen with harbours and two mooring places of Heukelum and Asperen. Along the way are very large houses, wilderness areas and private riverside holiday places with a lawned area and a place for a boat.





We stayed at the Geldermalsen harbour for one night and did the shopping as the supermarkets were right opposite. Then cruised back to Asperen where we stopped for the night and had a BBQ. The mooring is a lovely grassed area alongside the City Wall.
We stopped here to visit Fort Asperen which is one of the forts on the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie. The defence Waterline is 85k long and 3 to 5 k wide and runs from the former Zuiderzee near Muiden to the Biesbosch south of Dordrecht. Built from 1815 to 1885 it is a system of sluices, dikes and canals which formed a protective ring around cities in county of Holland and Utrecht. The idea of the waterline was to flood the shallow basin with a layer of water about 50cm deep which was enough to make the land difficult to pass for soldiers and wagons and horses and too shallow to navigate boats. The defence line was strengthened with forts and five fortified towns, so far we have visited Miuden, Weesp, Naarden and Gorinchem and will visit Woudrichem next week.

The dark blue on the photo is the Waterline.
The forts are all similar to Asperen; round and with very thick walls. Asperen now lies behind a lovely screen of trees and is used for art exhibitions and we found the guide could also speak English so we learnt a lot about its former glory.


We had a look around the lovely town of Asperen then left for our next stop in Gorinchem.